photograph
courtesyPhilip Greenspun
|
The Four Corners
Farmington is located in northwestern New Mexico, in the "Four
Corners" area where the borders of Colorado, Arizona,
Utah and New Mexico meet. San
Juan County is marked by fertile river valleys surrounded
by high desert, rolling plateaus, mesas, and mountain ranges
to the north, east, and west. Just 50 miles south of Durango,
Colorado, Farmington offers spectacular scenery and convenient
access to numerous recreational and cultural activities, including
national parks, monuments, lakes, rivers, and numerous hiking
and bike trails. Three major Colorado ski resorts - Durango
Mountain Resort, Telluride and Wolf Creek - are within an easy
drive for a day or weekend of skiing. Albuquerque and Santa
Fe are three to four hours away by car and less than an hour
by air.
Training Environment
The
area's mild southwestern climate provides pilots with excellent
flight conditions year-round. Averaging 273 sunny days a year, the
area receives only about 7.5 inches of rain and 12.3 inches of snow
annually. The annual average temperature is 51.6o. Monthly
average temperatures range from 28.6o in January to 74.1o in July with mild easterly and westerly prevailing winds. Students
can normally expect good flying weather at least 300 days a year.
Four
Corners Regional Airport has regularly scheduled commuter service from Albuquerque, Denver, and Phoenix.
Located on a mesa overlooking downtown Farmington at an elevation
of 5,500 feet, the airport's control tower and uncongested Class
D airspace provide a safe environment for student pilots. The proximity
to Albuquerque, Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake makes these cities
frequent destinations for training flights.
San Juan College
Accredited
by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
as a degree-granting institution, San
Juan College offers 54 associates degree programs plus certificates
in a dozen disciplines. In addition to its relationship with Mesa
Air Group, Inc., the college has academic and vocational training
programs with Toyota, General Motors, BHP World Minerals, and Intel.
The college serves over 14,000 students a year through its many divisions
and ranks fifth in enrollment among New Mexico's twenty-three public
institutions of higher education. Located on a 600 acre campus in
northeastern Farmington, the college was founded as a branch of
New Mexico State University in 1956 and has been independent since
1982. |
